


Conversations

by ShadowSelene (Shadowdianne)



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-15
Updated: 2019-03-15
Packaged: 2019-11-18 06:15:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18114962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadowdianne/pseuds/ShadowSelene
Summary: “Do you…well…I mean…I could give you a massage?” Asked by stepintomyworld via tumblr





	Conversations

**Author's Note:**

> The additional ask on this one was to make it angsty. So this time I'm not guilty of that.  
> Set in: After the fight between Zelena and Regina back in 3x16 since Regina can be a sorceress all you want but she got thrown into the clock tower and that’s not good for anyone’s health.
> 
> Slight changes in canon: Since Regina doesn’t go to pick her heart is Robin who eventually goes back to Storybrooke with it, hence not starting the whole mess that happened back in the show. Just adding that bit in case I’m asked about continuity xd.

_“Do you…well…I mean…I could give you a massage?”_

Emma growled inwardly at the fact that her voice broke a little at the end, that she stuttered at the beginning, that she found herself at loss as she leant on the doorway of the hospital’s bedroom with her hands deep on her pockets of her jacket with nothing to really do but being clenched into tight fists. She hated how she felt, useless, so useless, as Regina glanced at her from the bed, superficial cuts on her arms all that more obvious now that she was in a hospital gown.

They had first believed she was okay when they had climbed the tower, the cutting words of how she was still alive making Emma almost smile; the sarcastic tone one she had welcomed it as she had felt like screaming when Zelena had thrown her into the glass of the clock. However, that relief had been short lived as the brunette had grown pale the moment she had tried to stand up, blood beginning to ooze from her nose as her magic sparkled around her, trying to repair the damage that had been done.

For a reason, one Emma hadn’t found until Whale had tried to simply check Regina’s vitals, the magic didn’t seem to truly be working as it should and Regina had swayed, almost losing consciousness as Emma moved forward, catching her just in time, beanie askew and the burning need to ask for the brunette to hold on. Which Regina, who had kept a physical distance ever since Emma had returned, seemed to welcome.

Now Emma stared as Regina attempted something close to a snort, one that wasn’t dignified and that spoke of the tiredness obvious on her eyes.

“I doubt a massage is going to do me any goods, Miss Swan.”

Emma pressed her lips together at the answer, at the title the brunette had used. It bugged her, prodding at threads she didn’t feel ready to look at yet and so she shrugged before taking a step inside the room, eyes wandering momentarily towards the chair near the bed in where Henry had forgotten his coat after the few minutes he had been able to spend there before being carried out by Snow, neither of them truly knowing what to do other than wait. Taking a seat at the chair and folding the coat on her knees, the blonde glanced at her hands, now pressed against the fabric; the same burning realization of how useless she had been back at the fight now doubled tenfold.

“I should let you sleep.” She said as seconds ticked by, but she didn’t move from her spot, not really wanting to leave. She had felt the same pull back at the waiting room; mindlessly walking through the corridors and stopping just shy from the door as she pondered what to do. She still didn’t know why she was there, what she could say to Regina to make her feel better, to make her feel like she had her back, but she wished she could do something, anything. Rising her gaze, she focused on brown eyes that were staring at her quizzically, purple still sparkling there but still far too faint, far too lavender rather than deep purple.

“Maybe.” The brunette’s answer had the same thickness Emma felt coating the back of her throat; almost as if Regina was also wondering why she was there too; sitting next to her bed. Not like they weren’t friends -were they? - not like Emma didn’t have reasons to worry, but this; being there, in the hospital, waiting for the other to recover, wasn’t something they had that many experiences to drag from.

Perhaps it was that, Emma considered, her thoughts scattered, jumbled, they were used to the fast pace of action, of things happening one after the other with barely enough time to truly breathe and consider the impact of decisions they made and now, in the middle of chaos, having this moment felt like something that would dissolve the second she looked at it too much. Nibbling at her bottom lip, she shook her head minutely before focusing on Regina once more, on the gashes she was able to discern, on the ones she was vaguely aware that existed even if the gown covered them.

“It was a smart move to not bring your heart.” The words hung heavy on her lips and she nibbled at them before continuing, not letting Regina to say anything. “Robin brought it to us, I… do you want him to keep it?”

She didn’t understand why she felt so exposed at the question, so tired, but she still felt the weight on her shoulders as she blinked before zeroing on Regina’s expression, on how the brunette’s facial muscles jumped and quivered.

There was another thing there, snuggly hiding itself on her own chest, one she didn’t want to say even if the doubt was one that kept on prodding, on burning her insides.

_“I could have protected it too.”_

And neither she or Regina did that sort of thing, they weren’t like that, but Emma had felt at loss when the man had appeared, bow still draw and a familiar reddish glow on his hand. She had almost lunged at him and if it hadn’t been for Snow’s gentle words she would probably had. And that alone, that immediate reaction, was one that made her close her eyes and take a few breaths before opening them again, magic seeping through her pores, reacting to emotions she didn’t want to even acknowledge.

“Emma…”

The use of her name made her gasp and Regina almost smiled a little at that before she stopped the motion, eyes dark and suddenly devoid of the purple from before.

“I knew you were going to be at the fight. I needed someone that couldn’t get… caught in the middle of it.”

It didn’t answer to Emma’s question, the one she had asked outload, but it answered, even barely, the other one and Emma almost felt ashamed of how easy was for Regina to read her. Not like it felt all that surprising, she guessed, she herself could always know when or if the brunette herself was lying. Which brought another, very difficult problem between them; why. But that, she guessed, wasn’t going to be discussed, not tonight, at least.

“Do you want it back?” She asked, pretending to not have heard Regina’s explanation, not wanting to dwell onto it, on how it stung, on how it piled up to the previous feeling of uselessness. Zelena had called it inflated ego and she was beginning to wonder if the redhead wasn’t incorrect. The savior was merely a title; she lacked every bit of magic knowledge that could help, that would always be needed and there it now laid Regina, with wounds and blood and tiredness scribbled on her body like ink.

She was acutely aware of the sigh that run through the older woman’s body but, for a sharp second, she felt relieved that Regina’s feelings were muted, dormant, as the brunette didn’t push.

“Once I’m back in full health, yes.”

Emma nodded sharply and stood, Henry’s coat pressed against her front as she hugged herself with it. She needed to go, she realized, she needed to go and think and…

Stop wanting to tell Regina how she had been the first thing she had remembered when her memories had been restored.

“I’ll let you sleep.” This time, however, she actually followed the idea, walking towards the door, steps mechanic, unnatural as her boots squeaked against the floor.

Regina didn’t say anything to that and when Emma turned momentarily she found the brunette’s eyes focused in one corner of the room, painfully and obviously pretending to feign she wasn’t there anymore.

“Good night.”


End file.
